The top 10 countries that scored the best were largely concentrated in Western Europe. Denmark came in at number one, Finland was number two, Sweden was third, and the Netherlands tied with Norway for the fifth spot. New Zealand was number four.

However, just because a country ranks well on the index doesn’t mean they’re without corruption. Sweden ranked third in the index, but a state-owned company is facing accusations of securing business in Uzbekistan through millions of dollars in bribes. Uzbekistan ranked 153rd on the list out of 168 countries.

The Corruption Perceptions Index measures perceived levels of public sector corruption globally based on expert opinions. This year, more countries improved their scores than declined.

Despite positive improvements, the index claims that the scale of global corruption is huge. Around 68% of countries worldwide “have a serious corruption problem,” with half of the G20 countries among them.

Countries that deteriorated on the index include Australia, Brazil, Libya, Spain, and Turkey. The most corrupt countries on the index were North Korea and Somalia – both scored just eight points out of a possible 100.

Here’s the index’s 10 least corrupt countries in the world:

Denmark

Finland

Sweden

New Zealand

Netherlands

Norway

Switzerland

Singapore

Canada

Germany

And here’s the 10 most corrupt countries in the world:

Somalia

North Korea

Afghanistan

Sudan

South Sudan

Angola

Libya

Iraq

Venezuela

Guinea-Bissau

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About the author

Lauren Sundstrom Lauren is a Staff Writer and Projects Assistant at Vancity Buzz. She is a graduate of BCIT's Broadcast and Online Journalism program. She loves reporting on breaking news and lifestyle content. If you feel like you have a story that needs to be told, fire her a tweet.